September 2025 marked the start of the 10th academic year of delivery of the Mandarin Excellence Programme in state schools across England. In early September 2025 the Language Learning Journal published an article by Katharine Carruthers about the mainstreaming of Mandarin Chinese in the curriculum across schools in England through the implementation of the MEP. Katharine led the programme as the MEP Strategic Director at IOE until her retirement in summer 2025. The programme continues to be delivered by IOE in partnership with the British Council.
Katharine Carruthers OBE
The LLJ article delves into how, with a structure and network in place, at the school level, the aspirations and motivation of individual language learners have been maintained.
The article concludes:
The perception among a large majority of participating teachers and school leaders is that MEP is a well-conceived and rounded programme. Moreover, many teachers involved in MEP argue that the programme’s impact on pupils’ personal development goes beyond what is captured by formal assessments, in building confidence, resilience and critical thinking.
To read the article in full click here.